Intel Core i5-1240P vs Intel Core i7-7560U vs Intel Celeron 3867U

Intel Core i5-1240P

The Intel Core i5-1240P is a mid-range Alder Lake-P family SoC designed for use in ultra-light, ultra-thin (yet actively cooled) laptops. It was announced in early 2022 and it has 4 performance cores as opposed to the 6 cores of the top-of-the-line i7-1280P (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) mated to 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The i5's P-cores are Hyper-Threading-enabled for a total of 16 threads when combined with its E-cores. The clock speeds range from 1.7 GHz to 4.4 GHz for the performance cluster and 1.2 GHz to 3.3 GHz for the efficient cluster. The shortcomings of this processor as compared with the slightly faster Core i5-1250P include the slightly lower iGPU clock speed and the limited vPro feature set ("Essentials" tier only, not allowing for remote device management).

Architecture

The i5 is a continuation of Intel's efforts to use the ARM-developed big.LITTLE technology for its own benefit. A single "little" Alder Lake core is supposed to be as fast as a Skylake core (as found in the venerable Core i7-6700HQ among other options) which is six years old at this point. All of Core i5-1240P's CPU cores enjoy access to 12 MB of L3 cache. The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to LPDDR5-5200, DDR5-4800, LPDDR4x-4267 or DDR4-3200; Intel recommends using no more than 64 GB of RAM, for reference. Just like the other 12th Gen Intel Core processors, this Core i5 comes with the Thread Director which is a new functionality designed to help Windows 11 decide which cores to use for what workload for best performance and efficiency possible. Hardware acceleration of AI algorithms is supported via GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). PCI-Express 5.0 support has not found its way into Alder Lake P processors, so users will have to be content with PCI-Express 4.0 for the time being. Four PCI-Express 4 lanes allow for a read/write rate of up to 7.9 GB/s, provided a suitably fast NVMe SSD is used.

Please note this is not a user-replaceable CPU. It gets soldered permanently on to the motherboard (FCBGA1744 socket interface).

Performance

Multi-thread performance is most comparable to the Ryzen 5 5500U, Ryzen 5 5600U and, surprisingly enough, the Core i5-1250P, making the i5-1240P a great processor for most consumers. Content creators and gamers will be better served by an H-class CPU such as the mighty Core i7-12700H, though.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 40 W, the NUC 12 Pro Kit NUC12WSBi5 is among the fastest systems built around the 1240P that we know of. It can be more than 2 times as fast in CPU-bound workloads as the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Graphics

The built-in graphics adapter in the form of the 80 EU Iris Xe running at up to 1.3 GHz has seen little change from what was built into certain Tiger Lake-UP3 processors, like an i5-1135G7, which is hardly a downside as this iGPU is loaded with modern features such as AV1 video decoding capability and SUHD 4320p monitor support. You can use up to 4 monitors simultaneously with this GPU, provided the laptop has the outputs required. The Xe isn't a stranger to a bit of casual gaming; that said, your mileage may vary depending on how high the Power Limits are and how capable the cooling solution of a laptop is. Expect something close to NVIDIA's MX250 or in other words, acceptable framerates in most games when playing at 1080p / Low settings. Fast RAM is a prerequisite for decent performance as the Iris Xe has to make do with no dedicated video memory.

Power consumption

The i5's base power consumption (also known as the default TDP value or Power Limit 1) is 28 W; its maximum Turbo power consumption (also known as the PL2) is not supposed to exceed 64 W. The "Minimum Assured" power consumption is fairly high at 20 W. All in all, an active cooling solution is a must for a CPU like this.

This 12th generation Intel chip is built with Intel's fourth-gen 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for decent, as of late 2022, energy efficiency. Keep in mind that many 7 nm U-class AMD Ryzen 5000 chips are just as fast, or even faster than the i5 while sipping less juice.

Intel Core i7-7560U

The Intel Core i7-7560U is a fast dual-core SoC for notebooks and Ultrabooks based on the Kaby Lake architecture and was announced in January 2017. The CPU has two processor cores clocked at 2.4-3.8 GHz (two cores up to 3.7 GHz). The processor can execute up to four threads simultaneously thanks to Hyper Threading. It is also equipped with an Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 GPU with 64 MB eDRAM, a dual-channel memory controller (DDR4) as well as VP9 and H.265 video decoding as well as encoding. The chip is still manufactured in a 14nm process with FinFET transistors.

Compared to the Core i7-7500U, the 7560 does have a higher single-core Turbo of 3.8 GHz (+300 MHz) and a higher dual-core Turbo (+200 MHz). The base frequency is lower (-300 MHz), but the CPU part can also use the 64 MB eDRAM as L5 cache.

Architecture

Intel basically uses the same micro architecture compared to Skylake, so the per-MHz performance does not differ. The manufacturer only reworked the Speed Shift technology for faster dynamic adjustments of voltages and clocks, and the improved 14nm process allows much higher frequencies combined with better efficiency than before.

Performance

At 2.4-3.8 GHz, the Core i7-7560U has a slightly lower frequency (except for the single-core Turbo) compared to the Core i7-7600U, but the CPU part can also use the 64 MB eDRAM, so the performance should be similar.

Graphics

The integrated Intel Iris Plus 640 Graphics is the GT3e model of the Kaby Lake GPU (Intel Gen. 9.5). It has 48 Execution Units running at 300-1050 MHz and the performance is comparable to a GeForce 920MX thanks to fast eDRAM cache. However, there aren't any significant improvements compared to the old Iris Pro 540, so modern games can often not be played smoothly or only at the lowest or medium settings, respectively.

Contrary to Skylake, Kaby lake now also supports H.265/HEVC Main 10 with a 10-bit color depth as well as Google's VP9 codec. The dual-core Kaby Lake processors announced in January should also support HDCP 2.2.

Power Consumption

The chip is manufactured in an improved 14nm process with FinFET transistors, which improves the efficiency even further. Intel still specifies the TDP with 15 Watts, which is typical for ULV chips. Depending on the usage scenario, the TDP can vary between 7.5 (cTDP Down) and 25 Watts.

Intel Celeron 3867U

The Intel Celeron 3865U is an ULV (ultra low voltage) dual-core SoC based on the Kaby-Lake architecture and has been launched in the first quarter of 2017. The CPU can be found in ultrabooks as well as normal notebooks. In addition to two CPU cores clocked at 1.8 GHz (no Turbo Boost, no HyperThreading), the chip also integrates an HD Graphics 610 GPU and a dual-channel DDR4-2133/DDR3L-1600 memory controller. The SoC is manufactured using a 14 nm process with FinFET transistors.

Compared to the similar Celeron 3865, the 3867 offers a different cTDP-down option (12.5 versus 10 Watt).

Architecture

Intel basically uses the same micro architecture compared to Skylake, so the per-MHz performance does not differ. The manufacturer only reworked the Speed Shift technology for faster dynamic adjustments of voltages and clocks, and the improved 14nm process allows much higher frequencies combined with better efficiency than before.

Performance

Due to the missing Turbo Boost and the low clock speeds, especially the single thread performance is very limited which results in a lower performance even for lower demanding tasks. The performance should be noticeably slower than the Celeron 3965 which offers 400 MHz higher clocked CPU cores. Therefore, the CPU is only suited for entry level tasks like office, web surfing and multimedia.

Graphics

The integrated graphics unit called HD Graphics 610 (similar to the HD Graphics 510) represents the "GT1" version of the Kaby Lake GPU (Intel Gen. 9). Its 12 Execution Units, also called EUs, are clocked at 300 - 900 MHz and offer a performance somewhat below the older HD Graphics 4400. Only a few games of 2015 can be played smoothly in lowest settings.

Power Consumption

Specified at a TDP of 15 W (including CPU, GPU and memory controller), the CPU is best suited for small notebooks and ultrabooks (11-inches and above). Optionally, the TDP can be lowered to 10 watts (cTDP down), reducing both heat dissipation and performance and allowing even more compact designs.